Rock 'n' roll nowadays

Why is it that the sweet tea from McDonald's comes in styrofoam cups while all their other large beverages come in plastic cups? I've never understood this. Earlier today my friend and I stopped at a McDonald's and he purchased a sweet tea. As we were pulling out of the parking lot, the cup, which was in the cupholder, fell over and landed on the end of the straw, which then punctured the side of the cup, rendering the tea undrinkable and making a mess all over the car. If it had been in a plastic cup this would not have happened.

But anyway, this happened as we were on our way to a concert at Jammin Java, a small venue in Vienna played by mostly local acts. The opening band, Storm the Beaches, came from the Baltimore area, but the rest of the bands were not anywhere close to local.

We arrived in time to catch the last two songs of the opening set. Neither of us had heard of this band previously. They were alright; the two songs I heard sounded kinda the same, but it was a nice 90s emo kind of a sound. Like back when "emo" was good music, before Dashboard Confessional killed the respectability of the term.

Next up was Steve Brodsky of the band Cave In playing a solo set. It was just him, his voice, and a guitar. The first song he played brought to mind images of some kind of medieval troubador with an electric guitar on acid. He played a number of Cave In songs after that. I'm not sure how many, because I don't really listen to that band. I know I've seen them live before, opening for some other band. I forget who. The didn't strike me as particularly rememberable though. I think their songs sounded better with Steve playing alone.

The third band of the night, Annuals, was the reason my friend and I went to the show to begin with. The first time either of us had heard them was last year at the 9:30 club when they opened for Minus the Bear. MTB is spectacular live, but Annuals might have stolen the show. They are amazingly fun in a live setting. And they were no less than mind-blowing tonight. I don't even know how I'd describe their sound. Kind of experimental indie pop I suppose. I've been having a harder and harder time describing the music I like lately. I think this is because none of the bands I love really sound quite like any other bands. Annuals is so great though. In fact, I think it'd be hard to dislike them. The first time we saw them we didn't know any of their songs (because we'd never even heard of them before) but that was about a year ago. In that time we've grown quite fond of their sound, so it was nice hearing some familiar tunes. I was playing one of their songs for my mom last week and even she, a 54-year-old white lady, agreed that they are quite groovy. She said that it just sounded like they were having fun (please excuse my use of the J word). This is even more clear watching them live. There's no doubt that everyone in this band is having the time of their life on stage, doing what they love most. The band is composed of two guitarists who also contribute vocals, a sexy female keyboardist who also sings, a bassist who grooves out like no one is looking, a drummer who rocks with an intensity rarely matched, and a sixth guy who moved between a second drumset and a third guitar. The use of a second drumset multiplied the band's intensity exponentially, and at times both of the guitarists picked up some drumsticks and rocked out on individual drums as well. I really can't see any reason why this band is not incredibly famous. I think they'll be huge soon, and that if that never happens there is something seriously wrong with society. Here's a link to one of their videos, in case anyone actually reads this and is too lazy to look them up themselves: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMjIQFU9nbg

The Dear Hunter (not to be confused with Deerhunter, a somewhat similar band) was the night's headlining act. This band is the current project of Casey Crescenzo, formerly of post-hardcore band The Receiving End of Sirens. I never really listened to TREOS very much before they broke up. Or now, for that matter. I hadn't listened to The Dear Hunter much either, although I'd downloaded a couple of their albums a while back. After a couple listens they seemed pretty good, although not remarkable. Their live show was certainly more intense though. They are definitely heavier and more somber live than on their albums, which sound more quirky and almost fairytale-ish. They played a pretty long set. One of Casey's effects pedals broke right before they began though, so he was in a bit of a bad mood. It was still evident that the band was enjoying themselves though, as it was their first headlining show in a while so they'd gotten accustomed to playing shorter sets.

In conclusion, this was an excellent show. Among the best I've attended, for sure. I'd write more about it, but I really shouldn't even be writing this because I have a lot of important homework assignments that I should be working on instead. This show was so inspiring though. It inspired me moreso as a musician than a writer though, as the friend I went to the show with is also my drummer. I say "my" drummer because another buddy and I write songs on the guitar and this dude plays the drums. So we are kind of a band. We need a bass player and singer though. And a keyboardist. And maybe another percussionist. But the show also inspired me to write this. I'm gonna stop now before I ramble any further.

The magic of October

There are a lot of reasons for which I love the month of October. My friends often refer to it as "hoodie weather." For much of the month it is too cold to go outside without a sweatshirt but not cold enough to warrant a heavy coat. Then there is the obvious chlorophyll shift that can be seen wherever nature can be found. At the end of the month, children wear goofy costumes and eat candy while slightly older children wear goofy costumes and become intoxicated. My favorite part of the month, however, is postseason baseball.

As I am writing this, the Los Angeles Angels just took a 3-2 lead over the notorious Bombers of the Bronx in the 11th inning of the second game of the American League Championship Series. I'm not really a fan of the Angels, but I've loathed the Yankees for as long as I've known the sport. In the National League Championship Series we have the Dodgers, also of Los Angeles, going up against last year's champion, the Philadelphia Phillies. I am not a fan of either of those teams, but I want to see the Phillies lose. I find that I have suddenly become a fan of LA by default.

Even though I don't really like any of the teams remaining in the playoffs, the games are still fun to watch. The teams that I hate are undeniably good. Right this second, like, this happened right after the last sentence that I typed, Alex Rodriguez just launched one over the right field wall to tie the game at 3. I find this much more suspenseful than any suspense movie could be.

I'm used to seeing my teams lose, be it through bullpen disasters or late-season collapses or just plain awfulness, such as both of the teams I've called my home team. When I was a young child I was a fan of the Baltimore Orioles. They have not had a winning season since 1997. In 2005 the Washington Nationals moved here from Montreal and became my home team. They sucked in Canada and they still suck. I initially disliked the Yankees because they were in the same division as the Orioles, making them rivals of sorts. In 2000 they faced the New York Mets in the World Series, so because I wanted the Yankees to lose I wanted the Mets to win. They are the closest thing to an "opposite" team, and they were actually good. It felt nice having a good team to cheer for, so I considered the Mets one of my favorite teams throughout the decade. After several years of playing quality baseball and a trip to the NLCS in 2006, the Mets have been pretty disappointing as of late. In 2007 and 2008 they were in first place in their division until completely falling apart towards the end of the season and losing their playoff spot to Philadelphia. That's why I hate the Phillies, by the way. So anyway, my point is that I've grown quite accustomed to watching my teams lose, yet for some reason I still love watching it happen. There's always that chance that one pitch, one swing of the bat, one bobbled catch, or one errant throw will completely reverse the outcome of the game.

And that is what I love the most about October. I could go on about it, but instead I'm gonna get horizontal on my couch to enjoy the remainder of this game.

Think about it, man.

What's bigger than a cloud? Seriously. And what is a cloud anyway? Air? Pretty much nothing. Wrap your head around that. Clouds encompass the globe and appear and disappear and reappear at their whim. Kind of like me. So that's what I'm going for here. Giganticism. And short sentences.

So what is the self in its rawest form? It is a ball of consciousness wrapped in flesh, constantly discovering itself. Its primary concern is its own well-being and sustenance. At times it thirsts for information regarding its own nature and that of the universe in which it resides, and at other times it is blissfully ignorant of itself and its surroundings. Often, new knowledge pertaining to such matters is discovered, or uncovered, by random chance, throughout the daily happenings of the individual. Other times it is sought out intentionally by means of studies, research, experience, and interactions.

Is the self ever complete? It can believe itself to be, although it can never be absolutely certain. Completeness is a matter of speculation based on the nature of the soul and just what exactly happens to it when the flesh ceases to function. Will all of our energies one day come to a sudden halt? or will we continue on in some other form? Throughout existence as we know it we seek to answer these questions. All of us are in this together and none of us know why. The individual self is a minuscule manifestation of mankind.